1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of neurosurgery and tissue engineering of organs and can be applied for transubstantiation of defective neural tissue of the brain and spinal cord in reconstructive and repairing treatment of consequences of traumatic damages and ischemic injuries, as well as for surgery on central nervous system (CNS) and vegetative nervous system (VNS) of a mammal, for example a human. (A list of abbreviations used in the ensuing disclosure is placed in the end of the disclosure.)
2. Description of Related Art
Till the end of the 20th century, prosthetic repair of nervous tissue defects was considered impossible and almost unsolvable that can be explained by the dogmatic understanding by brain researchers, neurologists and neurosurgeons of limited restoration capacities of the nervous tissue, as well as by dogmatic notion established in 1801 by Santiago Ramon-y-Cajal stating that neural cells were inherently unable to regenerate after the injury. However, the last decade of the 20th century has considerably changed the approach by accumulation of new scientific evidence of regenerative potential of CNS, reparative properties of neural stem cells (NSC) and conclusive proofs of restoration opportunities of the axons of injured neurons.
Known in the art is a preparation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), including autologous HSC which are obtained from a patient peripheral blood enriched with cells containing a CD34 antigen in the final concentration of (40 to 100)·106 cells/ml. A therapeutic treatment of a brain and spinal cord (SC) traumatic disease is performed by an intrathecal or intraventricular administration of the cell preparation to a patient (RU 2283119 C1, A61K35/14, 2006). However, the preparation consisting of solely HSC appeared insufficiently effective in the therapy of brain and SC nervous tissue defects.
Known is a biopolymer prosthesis <<NeuroGel>>™ to fill defects of nervous tissue (S. Woerly, V. D. Doan, F. Evans-Martin, C. G. Paramore, J. D. Peduzzi, “Spinal cord reconstruction using NeuroGel™ implants and functional recovery after chronic injury”, J. of Neuroscience Res. 2001. Vol. 66, pp. 1187-1197). The research proved a possibility of the growth of the injured axons through a biopolymer composition in a mammal SC and the restoration of lost brain functions, while stem cells provide favorable conditions for axon regeneration. However, application of the <<NeuroGel>>™ prosthesis proved inefficient in the treatment of brain and SC defects. Moreover, the <<NeuroGel>>™ composition contains agents, prohibited to be used in humans.
Also known in the art is a multipurpose heterogeneous collagen matrix for implantation, including an elastic mass prepared of two collagen sources, one being the tissue of vertebrate animal of one class, and the other being the tissue of other class of animals. The matrix consists of two phases: a solid phase represented by microspheres of a mammal tissue collagen and a liquid one represented by a denatured bird tissue collagen. This heterogeneous collagen-containing matrix was proposed for restoration of injuries of soft tissues and organs by means of implantation (RU 2249462 C1, A61K38/39, 2005). Using this collagen matrix for the implantation into a defect of nervous tissue failed to activate in full a regenerative potential of the artificial implant due to big size of microspheres (300 to 400 μm) and their hardness that led to a mechanical damage and death of transplanted stem cells.